You promised
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| Original title | You promised |
| Country of production | Germany , Italy |
| original language | German |
| Publishing year | 2012 |
| length | 101 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 16 |
| Rod | |
| Director | Alex Schmidt |
| script |
Valentin Mereutza Alex Schmidt |
| production |
Stefan Schubert Ralph Schwingel Yildiz Özcan |
| music | Marian Lux |
| camera | Wedigo von Schultzendorff |
| cut |
Andreas Radtke Nicole Kortlüke |
| occupation | |
| |
You promised it is a German mystery thriller from 2012. For the director Alexandra (Alex) Schmidt, who also co-wrote the script, it is the first work. The film premiered at the Venice International Film Festival and was shown in theaters in Germany from December 2012.
action
Hanna is a doctor and works in a hospital when a patient is admitted to the emergency room with an overdose of sleeping pills. Hanna discovers that it is her former best friend Clarissa, with whom she once spent her vacation on an island at the age of nine.
Clarissa suggests to visit the old island for the sake of old times and Hanna agrees. The two women travel to the island with Hanna's daughter Lea and meet the caretaker Tim, who maintains the guest house and tells Hanna that they shouldn't have come.
Hanna learns that Maria, a girl she once played with, has disappeared from the island. But Hanna can no longer remember what happened back then and has only vague memories. She befriends Marcus, the island's fisherman. He also knows Maria's story and also tells Hanna that the fish seller Gabriela is Maria's mother. After Lea forgot her cuddly doll in the fish shop, Hanna wants to pick it up, but Gabriela is not there, so Hanna enters Maria's old room. There she discovers a necklace that she once gave to Maria when they promised to remain best friends forever.
Hanna keeps seeing little Maria on the island. Clarissa can see her too, but doesn't tell Hanna. After Hanna remembers that they played in a ruin in the forest as children, she searches for and finds them. Her memory slowly comes back and we learn that Hanna and Clarissa must have something to do with Maria's disappearance. Apparently Maria perished in a hole in the ruins.
Because of what is happening on the island and in the house, Hanna decides to leave the island with her daughter. However, the ferry is lying on the jetty with an engine failure and Marcus wants to repair it the next day. It turns out that Marcus is Maria's brother and was also involved in her disappearance, as Hanna told him about Mary's whereabouts shortly before the ferry left. However, since Maria destroyed Marcus' favorite toys shortly before she disappeared, he did not tell anyone about it. At night, Marcus apparently tries to kidnap Hanna, which Clarissa prevents. In the morning, Marcus is washed ashore dead, and Gabriela, his mother, blames Hanna for it.
When Hanna returns to the holiday home, the caretaker kidnapped Tim Lea to protect her - as he says. When Hanna and Clarissa try to free Lea, Tim pounces on Clarissa and chokes her. Hanna is able to save Clarissa by severely wounding Tim with an ax. In the fight, however, Hanna is pushed into a shelf by Tim and collapses. When Hanna comes to, Gabriela tells her that Maria is not dead, but lives. Hanna then realizes that Maria has been posing as her friend Clarissa all along.
Hanna is looking for her daughter Lea and meets Maria in the ruin, who has just locked the hatch to the hole in which Lea is lying. Hanna overpowers Maria and then ties her up. Maria finally tells Hanna about her career. As a child, Hanna had told Clarissa a horror story about the hole in the ruin. Since Maria had followed them and should prove their friendship, the two let Maria down into the hole. When trying to get her up again after hours, the rope breaks and Maria is only found days later by her mother because the girls did not tell anyone about the incident. Driven by the fear in the hole, the young Maria was admitted to the psychiatric ward and Gabriela told everyone that she had disappeared.
During her time in psychiatry, Maria was raped by the nurses and finally released, heavily pregnant. After the birth of her daughter, whom Hanna constantly saw on the island as "young Maria", she wanted to take revenge on the two girls from back then. We learn that Maria killed Clarissa and later also her brother Marcus, because he knew her whereabouts. She also murdered Tim, who was badly injured by Hanna's attack, with another blow of the ax in the neck. After Maria has finished her story, Hanna wants to free Lea. As she climbs down into the hole, Maria manages to free herself and cuts the rope that Hanna is holding.
Hanna later wakes up next to her husband Johannes in a clinic and is tied to the bed because she is said to have murdered Tim and deliberately jumped into the pit with Lea. Later Maria comes into the room, who in front of Johannes and Lea still pretends to be Clarissa. After Johannes leaves, Maria tells Hanna that she will destroy her life as she once destroyed hers. The film ends in a final scene in which Maria - as the final completion of her plan of revenge - has taken Hanna's place in her family (as Lea's stepmother and Hanna's husband's new partner).
reception
"The mystery thriller 'You have promised it' is atmospherically illustrated, but the narrative of this rare German genre contribution remains unspectacular and not very captivating after a promising start until the disappointing end."
““ You promised ”uses many familiar elements from the genre of horror films, but interweaves them with a well-staged atmosphere. Thus, the references to other films are less noticeable, but gain a new effect through a good camera and sensible sound design. "
“A shocker that doesn't shock. A horror film that doesn't scare you. A drama that nobody cares. Guess: You promised it is a genre film from Germany. "
"Stylish and atmospheric, this is entertainingly old-school horror."
Web links
- You promised in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- You promised it in the dictionary of international films
- Interview with director Alex Schmidt at WatchTheShit.de / October 2012 (German)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Release certificate for you promised . Voluntary self-regulation of the film industry , April 2013 (PDF; test number: 134 398 K).
- ^ A b Frédéric Jaeger: You promised. August 31, 2012, accessed November 13, 2012 .
- ↑ Tim Slagman: Critique of the FILMSTARTS.de editorial team. You promised. Retrieved November 13, 2012 .
- ↑ Phil Marx: Critique of Nerdtalk.de: You promised . Retrieved December 21, 2012 .
- ^ David Rooney: Forgotten: Venice Review. September 6, 2012, accessed November 15, 2012 .